St. Patrick's Day

Personally, I do not think there are many better events that one can experience than when sharing time with people you care about.  During my youth, I always enjoyed the family holiday celebrations, dinners and BBQs with friends and family, those after church pitch-in dinners, and times when people got together just to hang out and spend time with each other.  St. Patrick’s Day is a time when we try to do something every year.  This year, Tibor and Nicole had Lori and me, and Dennis over for a traditional Irish dinner.  The menu was an appetizer of oysters on the half shell; the main course was corned beef with steamed baby red potatoes, carrots, and cabbage and deserts were Bailey’s cream pie and Irish whiskey coffee cake.  Pair this dinner with some Irish Stouts and you are in seventh heaven.  


The great thing about Irish Stouts is they are typically lower in alcohol because these are meant to be consumed through an evening or afternoon at the pub and the drinker is not inebriated. Stouts are not “heavy” as I hear people describe them, and in fact, they are typically lower in alcohol.  The primary difference between a stout and light beers is the use of dark malts (and not a large percentage of dark malt) to provide color and the roasty stout flavor. 

Guinness Extra Stout (5% ABV) was first on the list and how could it not?  Guinness is known for it’s Irish Dry Stout and it is very good.

Next up, with the Hama Hama Oysters (from Tony’s Meats) was O’Hara’s Irish Stout (4.3% ABV).  Oysters and stouts are a perfect pairing and I want to provide a shout-out to “Dr. Bill” Sysak for suggesting this pairing on the latest pod cast from New Brew Thursday. 

Nicole made some of the best corned beef I have tasted and see made steamed carrots, baby red potatoes and cabbage to accompany the beef.  Tibor had made fresh mustard that was a perfect match for the corned beef.  We also had Murphy’s Irish Stout (4% ABV), another fine Irish Dry Stout and a favorite of Nicole’s. Tibor also made some black and tans with a base of Harp (5% ABV) a pale lager and Guinness Draught (4% ABV).  I also brought over a couple of cans of Upslope’s Foreign Style Stout (6.9% ABV and 64 IBU).  The desserts were Bailey’s cream pie and Irish whiskey coffee cake.  It was the first time that I had made either of these deserts and they came out great.  Follow the directions and obtain good ingredients and it is hard to go wrong.

It was a fun evening and if you do not celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, I suggest you make a plan to invite some friends and / or family over next year and celebrate the day.  By the way, don’t wait until next year, there are plenty of opportunities to get with friends and family pick something or make something up and just do it.  

URL – http://www.tonysmarket.com

URL – http://www.newbrewthursday.com/

URL – http://www.guinness.com/en-us/

URL - http://www.murphys.com/

URL - http://www.europeancuisines.com/Ireland-Authentic-Traditional-Irish-Desserts-Dessert-Recipes

Vacation - Seattle and Pacific NW Beers

My wife and I went to Seattle over the weekend of 19^th and 20^th for a wedding and I had the opportunity to try to tasty beers.  The three highlights were Pike Brewing Co.’s Old Bawdy Barleywine, Alaskan Brewing Co.’s Double Black IPA, and Deschutes Black Butte Porter. 

During the flight, I started the vacation with a Blue Moon Belgian White (5.4% ABV).  On Thursday evening we attended the rehearsal dinner at Ray’s Boathouse and I had a Maritime Imperial Pale Ale (7.5% ABV), Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale (5.0% ABV & 40 IBU), Widmer Heffeweizen (4.9% ABV & 30 IBU) and Deschutes Black Butte Porter (5.2% ABV & 30 IBU).  We later went out to Bel Mar in Ballard and I had a Firestone Walker Double Barrel Pale Ale (5.0% ABV).  These were all tasty beers and the standout was Black Butte Porter with desert – an excellent pairing.

On Friday, we met one of Lori’s previous co-workers at Cutter’s and I had Maritime Jolly Roger Christmas Ale and a Mac& Jack’s African Amber that paired nicely with a lunch of fish and chips. Later, I went to the local QFC and picked up Alaskan Brewing Co.’s Double Black IPA (8.5% ABV & 70 IBU).  I had this at the Friday evening party and it is excellent.  If you want to try a Cascadian / Black IPA this is a great one to try, if you can find it.

On Saturday, I tried the Pike Old Bawdy 2008 (10% ABV & 90 IBU) in the afternoon and this is a great beer that I enjoyed.  Later that evening, we met up with George & Mary Lou, and Michael at Wilde Rover in Kirkland for some good Irish food & drink and billiards.  I had a Guinness Stout (4.2% ABV), Smithwick’s Irish Red Ale (4.5% ABV) with a dinner of corned beef and cabbage, New Castle Brown Ale (4.7% ABV), and Kilkenny Irish Red Ale (4.3% ABV).  We had an excellent time and George and I actually won a few matches of pool.  At dinner, I gave George a bottle of Avery Hog Heaven and Michael a bottle of Avery The Reverend.  George replied that he tried and really liked Hog Heaven.

On Sunday, we meet Ben (one of Lori’s former students) at Cutters and I had a NW flight of Manny’s Pale Ale (5.5% ABV & 37 IBU), Diamond Knot Winter Warmer (7.7% ABV & 60 IBU) and Elysian Bifrost (7.5% ABV & 55 IBU).  Flights are a great way to sample different beers and these were approximately 4 – 5 oz. servings for the price of a normal pint.  At the reception that evening I tried Widmer Broken Halo IPA (6.0% ABV & 45 IBU) that was excellent with dinner.

On Monday, Lori and I went to my favorite lunch spot in Bellevue, the King and I.  I ordered Phad Thai Tofu and enjoyed a Pyramid Heffeweizen (5.2% ABV & 18 IBU).  I love Phad Thai and this is one spot to get great Thai food.  That evening, we met friends at Paulo’s in Kent and I had a Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale (5.0% ABV & 40 IBU) with ravioli in a walnut cream sauce and this was excellent.

We returned to Denver on Tuesday and I took Lori, Jonathan and Donna (Lori’s mom) to NoNo’s and I had an Abita Strawberry Harvest Lager (4.2% ABV & 13 IBU) and a Bridgeport Ropewalk Amber (5.6% ABV) with a dinner of Cajun meatloaf.  This was a nice pairing and it is too bad this beer is no longer being brewed at Bridgeport.

The trip to Seattle was excellent and it was great to see old friends and enjoy good food and drink.  There are some excellent beers in Seattle and the Pacific NW and I was able to do a quick tour of Pike Brewing Co.  If you are in Seattle downtown, stop by Pike – they have a great selection and you can obtain many “goodies” to go.